Looking to the future of The Pharma-C Company
Based in Port Washington, Wis., Pharma-C-Wipes offers a variety of consumer products that include adult care, OTC and first aid. But the company has undergone some changes.
Ann Halstead, marketing director of Kleen Test Products, parent company of Pharma-C, said the changes are designed to better represent the full scale of the brand’s offerings and to enhance consumer appeal and in-store shelf presence.
Drug Store News recently sat down with Halstead to get a sense and scale of the changes and what they will mean for consumers.
[Read more: REX Awards 2022: OTC and Preventive Health]
Drug Store News: What are the changes for your company and why did you make them?
Ann Halstead: Pharma-C-Wipes has grown up! We are now The Pharma-C Company. For over 15 years, Pharma-C-Wipes has been developing and marketing products designed specifically to address some of the issues associated with first aid and home health care. Today, Pharma-C-Wipes products are trusted and loved by healthcare providers and those providing care for loved ones at home. But our products are also used by general consumers to address many home health needs. Additionally, our product line has expanded beyond the “wipes” format. Our new name, The Pharma-C Company, better represents our current product offerings and allows us to expand with products targeting categories such as first aid, incontinence care, digestive care, home health care and personal care.
DSN: How are you innovating the categories in which you play?
AH: Innovation is a part of The Pharma-C Company DNA. It was a personal need of our brand founder that led to our first product, and we have been innovating ever since. The Pharma-C Company continues to bring new products to the first aid, incontinence care and digestive care categories. We have been successful by developing new forms of traditional products such as Witch Hazel Wipes and by creating new applications for existing products such as our new Hemorrhoidal Foam, which turns regular toilet paper into a flushable wipe.
DSN: What are you doing to enhance consumer appeal and in-store shelf presence?
AH: The Pharma-C Company has just completed a total product line packaging update. The new packages are more modern and approachable, and are designed to appeal to a broader audience. Additionally, the designs utilize color to differentiate the product categories. For example, blue is the primary color used for the first aid products while purple is the primary color for the digestive care line.
DSN: What new products are you developing?
AH: The Pharma-C Company views new product development in three primary buckets. The first of these is focused on expanding offerings within our traditional categories with traditional products delivered in new ways. Two recent examples of this approach include our The Pharma-C Company Witch Hazel Wipes, traditional witch hazel delivered in a wipe format, and our brand-new The Pharma-C Company Medicated Foam, which allows toilet paper to be used as a flushable hemorrhoidal wipe. The second area of focus is on expanding into new but adjacent categories. Here we are looking at potential new offerings in categories such as skin care and personal care. The third product development bucket is all about creating new products that add innovative twists to existing categories and products.
[Read more: Product of the Year announces 2022 winners]
DSN: What is the future of the company?
AH: The future of The Pharma-C Company is bright! There are two trends that are going to contribute to growth for our business. One trend is the aging U.S. population combined with an increased desire to care for loved ones in the home rather than pursue an institutional solution. The second trend is a desire to use more traditional remedies like our grandparents used over more modern pharmaceutical remedies.